Portable sign structure



June 15, 1954 P. B. HOGE 3 PORTABLE SIGN STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 19, 1951 4Sheets-Sheet l IN VENTOR PHILIP B. H065 BY W ATTORNEYS June 15, 1954HOGE 2,681,030 PORTABLE SIGN STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 19, 1951 4Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR' ATTORNEYS June 15, 1954 P. B. HOGE 2,681,030

PORTABLE SIGN STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 19', 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 1N VENTORFwy}? B. Hoes ATTORNEYS June 15, 1954 F2, HOGE 2,681,030 I PORTABLE SIGNSTRUCTURE Filed Feb. 19', 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VENTOR PHILIP .8 H065BY 67:01., fla-y/ud M1206 ATTORNEYS Patentecl June 15, 1954 UNITEDSTATEE Z ATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to supporting structures for signs and the like,and more particularly to portable collapsible structures, adapted ito beset up along a highway.

The general object of the invention is to devise a structure or" thischaracter so light, simple and compact that it may be carried in the carof the average motorist and set up on the roadway in case of breakdownor when changing a tire, to warn other motorists to drive carefully.

Another object is to provide a device of this character incorporating aflag, and having means for supporting a source of light, as for examplean ordinary flashlight, in such manner as to illuminate the flag atnight.

A further and more specific object of the invention is to devise asupporting structure comprising a plurality of legs and an upwardlyextending mast all pivotally connected with an improved head so designedthat the legs and mast may all be swung about their pivots intosubstantial parallelism, whereby the structure may be folded into acompact package similar to an ordinary umbrella.

In order that the invention may be readily understood, reference is hadto the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification and inwhich:

Fig. l is a perspective View of one form of my improved supportingstructure when used to support a highway sign;

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section therethrough substantially onthe line 2-2 of Fig. l, the flag being omitted;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale of one form of head towhich the legs and mast are pivoted;

Fig. 4; is a fragmentary side elevation of the middle portion of thesupporting structure itself illustrating the use of wooden members inplace of steel;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section on an enlarged scale substantially on theline 5--5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a perspective conventional view of my improved supportingstructure as it appears when erected for use;

Fig. 7 is a similar view illustrating the parts in the position whichthey occupy when being folded to collapsed position;

Fig. 8 is a plan view showing the sheet metal blank from which the headillustrated in Fig. 3 is formed;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a somewhat different form of head, thelegs and mast being illustrated in dotted lines;

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 9 but showing a still further modifiedconstruction of head;

Fig. 11 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale showing still adifferent form of head;

Fig. 12 is a vertical section substantially on the line |2l2 of Fig. 11;and

Fig. 13 is a perspective view illustrating the appearance of thecomplete structure shown in Figs. 11 and 12, when folded into collapsedposition.

Referring to the drawings in detail, I have illustrated my improvedsupporting structure as made either of wood or metal, and I have alsoshown a number of different forms of head, some of which are equallyapplicable to either wood or metal supporting legs and mast.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, my improved supporting structurecomprises a tripod composed of three legs l, and a vertically extendingmast 2. These legs and mast are pivotally mounted at {a and 2respectively, on a head designated in its entirety by the referencenumeral 3.

By reference to Fig. 3 it will be seen that this head is formed of sheetmetal and comprises three pockets or sockets a, b and c disposed atangles to each other. This head may conveniently by formed from a sheetmetal blank such as shown in Fig. 8. In this blank the panels 10 formthe sides of the sockets, while the panels a: form the edges thereof,the material being bent along the dotted lines as will be obvious.Projecting from the inner panels 10 are a pair of tabs y and 2 which,when the blank is folded into the completed head, shown in Fig. 3,extend toward each other in abutting relation, thus serving as spacersand providing a latch member 3 illustrated in Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5.

The outer edges of the end panels may be welded or soldered to the sidesof the inner panels to secure them in position, as illustrated in Fig.3.

A spring catch is provided, as illustrated in Fig. 2, but best shown inFig. 5. This is formed of a piece of resilient wire having a pair ofarms 4 and i extending at right angles to each other, the ends of thearms 1 being anchored to the mast 2. Between the arms 4 and I the wireis given a turn around a pin 8 carried by the mast, as indicated at I.At the ends of the arms 4, the wire is formed into loops 5 connected bya cross-bar B, which cross-bar is adapted to engage the latch member .swhen the mast is swung to upright position.

To the upper end of the mast is secured a cross-arm 9 by means of apivot III, and a flexible sheet II is secured at its upper edge to thiscross-arm. A preferred method of attaching the flexible sheet to thecross-arm is by means of ornamental studs or buttons I2, which may be ofa reflecting character. Similar studs or buttons I3 secure the lowercorners of the flexible sheet to two of the legs I, as best illustratedin Fig. 1. Thus the flexible sheet is held stretched in extendedposition so that it is well adapted to display any sign or letteringwhich may be placed thereon, and at the same time the sheet serves tohold the cross-arm in horizontal position.

Secured to one end of the cross-arm 9 is a bracket 14 to which ispivoted, as at 16, one end of a flag pole l 5, from which is suspended asuitable fiag, preferably red. From an inspection of Fig. 1 it will beobserved that the flag pole is so constructed that this flag issupported at an angle to the plane of the cross-arm, for a purpose whichwill hereinafter appear.

Referring now to Figs 6 and 7, I have conventionally shown in thesefigures merely the frame members of my improved structure, the flexiblesheet and flag being omitted for the sake of clearness. When thestructure is in operative position, as shown in Fig. 6, the three legs Iare extended, and the mast 2 projects vertically upward from the head 3.The arm 9 and flag pole 15 are in horizontal position.

When it is desired to fold or collapse the structure, however, the iiagpole i is folded upon the arm 9, and the arm 9 itself is swung about thepivot l9 into parallelism with the mast 2, as shown by the arrows and asillustrated in Fig. l. The mast itself is then swung downwardly aboutits pivot 2 (see Figs. 2 and 4) into the position shown in dotted linesin Fig. 7. The legs I are then swung into substantially parallelrelation with each other and with the mast. Thus, when folded tocollapsed position, the three legs, the mast, the cross-arm and the flagpole all lie substantially parallel with each other and form a smallcompact bundle, similar to an umbrella. The length of the mast inrelation to that of the cross-arm is preferably so chosen that when thecross-arm is folded to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7, thecombined length of the mast and projecting end of the cross-arm insubstantially no greater than that of the legs. In Figs. 1 and 2, I haveshown the legs and mast as formed of channel-shaped metal strips orbars. Such bars are also clearly illustrated in ll. Substantially thesame form of head, illustrated in Fig. 3, is, however, equally suitablefor use with legs and mast formed of wood. This is shown in Figs. 4 and5, in which the wooden legs are designated l and the wooden mast 2'. Thehead is designated 3 in these figures because, when used with woodenlegs of rectangular section, the outer edge panels of the sockets areflat, as shown in Fig. 5, instead of rounded as illustrated in Fig. 3.Except for the substitution of wooden legs and mast for thecorresponding steel members, the construction shown in Figs. 4 and 5 isexactly the same as that already described in connection with l, 2 and3.

Instead of forming the head of sheet metal, as shown in Fig. 3, it maybe constructed as illustrated in Fig. 9. In this figure the head isillustrated as formed of two metal stampings i8 and i9, placed back toback and united as by riveting or welding. The combined structure thenpresents a pair of wings 18 and I8 corresponding to the pockets at and cof Fig. 3, and a double walled receptacle i9 corresponding to the socketb of Fig. 3. In the upper edge of the piece [9 is formed a transversenotch 20 having at its rear side rounded edges 20*. Thus, when employedin connection with a spring catch similar to that shown in Figs. 4 and5, the cross-bar 5 of such a catch, when the mast is swung to uprightposition, rides up over the rounded edges 20 and snaps into the notch20. In this Fig. 9, the legs and mast are shown as formed ofchannel-shaped metal bars, and two of the legs are illustrated asstraddling and enclosing the wings lE and H8 Wooden legs, such as shownin Figs. 4 and 5, can however, equally well be used, and would bepivoted to the wings. The third leg, whether wood or metal, fits betweenthe Walls of the receptacle [9 In Fig. 19 I have illustrated a slightmodification of the structure shown in Fig. 9, which may be formed ofcast metal. This form of head, designated in its entirety by the numeral2 E, has the two wings 2H and 25, similar to w and 13 of Fig. 9, butinstead of the receptacle 19 of Fig. 9, it is provided with a singlewing 2110. This wing has a notch 29 in the upper edge thereof to receivethe spring catch. In connection with Fig. 10, it will be understood thatchannel-shaped legs are employed which embrace all three wings.

In Figs. 11 and 12, I have illustrated an en tirely diiierent form ofhead. lhis comprises a plate designated in its entirety by the referencenumeral 22. It is of triangular shape and the lower corners constitutewings 22 and 22, similar to the wings 2 i and 2 i in Fig. 10. The thirdleg is carried by a special bracket 22* This is shown as formed offolded sheet metal bent to form an inner U-shaped portion 22, the endsof the legs of which rest against the plate 22, and the bracket issecured thereto by means of a bolt or rivet 22 At its upper end theplate 22 is formed with an upwardly projecting tongue 22 preferablyofiset from the plane of the plate as shown, and the upper portions ofthe plate, at either side of this tongue, are rolled over as shown at 22to receive a hinge pin 23. A second hinge member 25 has its lower edge24 rolled around the central portion of this pin. This member 25 isrigidly secured to the mast 2 as by rivets 27, and is provided with arearwardly extending latch portion 25 having its outer edge beveled onone side as indicated at 26 in Fig. 11. This latch member is also formedwith a transversely extending notch 28 in which freely works the upperend of a spring catch 29 formed of a piece of resilient wire. At thelower end of this catch, the wire is given a turn 36 around the bolt orrivet 22 and the extreme end is anchored to the plate 22, as indicatedat 3!. It will thus be seen that when this catch member 29 is swunglaterally so as to disengage it from the notch 28, the mast and hingemember 25 can be swung downwardly about the pin 23 as shown in dottedlines in Fig. 12 while, as the mast is swung upwardly toward verticalposition, the latch 25 snaps over the catch member 29 and locks the mastin position.

In Fig. 13, I have shown a structure made in accordance with Figs. 11and 12 as it appears when in its completely folded or collapsedposition. Here it will be seen that the legs and mast lie insubstantially parallel relation with each other and that the cross-arm9, in alinement with the mast, does not project substantially beyond theends of the legs. No attempt has been made to illustrate the third legin Fig. 13 since this lies behind the head and mast, and to in-- cludeit would be confusing.

From the foregoing it will be seen that, in all of the modifications,and whatever the exact form the head may take, the same generalprinciple is present, namely, that my improved structure comprises ahead to which are pivotally connected three legs and a mast carrying acrossarm, the construction being such that the legs and mast may befolded into collapsed position in which they are substantially parallel,and that the combined length of the mast and cross-arm is preferably notsubstantially greater than the length of the legs, so that the wholestructure, when collapsed, forms a compact bundle or package.

Referring again to Figs. 1 and 2, I preferably provide means forilluminating the flag I! at night so that it may be clearly seen byapproaching motorists. For this purpose, I provide a pair of flexibleloops 32 which may normally lie behind and be concealed by the flexiblesheet H, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, but which may be thrownover to the front of such sheet at night, and placed in such position tosupport a flashlight 33. This light is so placed as to direct its beamtoward the flag ll, and the flag pole I5 is bent so that the flag isdisposed at an angle to the flashlight so that it may be effectivelyilluminated thereby.

While I have described the several forms of my improved tripod head asmade of sheet or cast metal, I also contemplate making the head of sheetor molded plastic, or even of a block of wood. In the latter case, thehead would be of the general form shown in Fig. 9, but, of course, withthe Walls thicker, and using wooden legs and mast, as in Fig. 4.

What I claim is:

l. A collapsible supporting structure comprising a head, a plurality oflegs pivoted at one end thereto, a mast also pivoted at one end to saidhead, a cross-arm pivoted adjacent its middle to the other end of saidmast, and a flag pole pivotally attached to one end of said cross-armand normally forming an extension thereof, said flag pole being foldableback upon said crossarm into a position parallel therewith, said legs,mast and cross-arm carrying said flag pole be ing foldable about theirrespective pivots into substantial parallelism, and means for lockingsaid mast into a position in which it extends upwardly from said head.

2. A device of the character described comprising a head, a plurality ofdownwardly diverging legs attached thereto, a mast also secured to saidhead and extending upwardly therefrom, a substantially horizontalcross-arm carried by said mast, near the top thereof, a flexible displaysheet secured along its upper edge to and depending from said cross-arm,and means for attaching the lower end of said sheet to two of said legs,with said sheet in stretched condition.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 364,991 Cross June 14, 1887 611,672 Beecher Oct. 4, 1898631,602 Wood Aug. 22, 1899 816,268 Steindori Mar. 27, 1906 1,280,923Whiteside Oct. 8, 1918 2,059,996 Goldberg Nov. 3, 1936 2,064,232 TepperDec. 15, 1936 2,090,783 Chinn Aug. 24, 1937 2,164,985 Cardarelli July 4,1939 2,187,870 Veccia Jan. 23, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date18,471 Great Britain of 1908 750,562 France Aug. 12, 1933

